The Voice from the Edge, Vol. 2: Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral

This original audio collection, featuring much newly recorded material, is a stunning realization of some of the writer’s best and edgiest work, as well as a fiery visit to some of his more secret stories.

The Voice from the Edge, Volume 3: Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes

Here, in 11 stories, a true memoir, five brand-new commentaries, and a linked horror story of Jack the Ripper by Ellison's great friend, the late Robert Bloch, the mesmerizing audio performance by the author provides in full measure the reason why Ellison has won Listen Up, Audio, and a shelf full of other awards, including investiture as one of the few Grand Masters of the literature of the fantastic. This one is the best yet.

The Deathbird & Other Stories: The Voice from the Edge, Volume 4

In a prolific career spanning more than 50 years, Harlan Ellison has been the acclaimed master of speculative fiction. In fact, a 1999 Locus poll named him the all-time best writer of short fiction as well as the editor of the all-time best anthology (Dangerous Visions). In addition to his dozens of Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards, Ellison has won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, and multiple Bram Stoker Awards from the Horror Writers Association (including the Lifetime Achievement Award).

Shatterday & Other Stories: The Voice from the Edge, Volume 5

In a prolific career spanning more than 50 years, Harlan Ellison has been the acclaimed master of speculative fiction. Shatterday & Other Stories presents, for the first time in audio, 11 of Ellison’s visionary stories.

The City on the Edge of Forever

The original teleplay that became the classic Star Trek episode, with an expanded introductory essay by Harlan Ellison, The City on the Edge of Forever has been surrounded by controversy since the airing of an "eviscerated" version - which subsequently has been voted the most beloved episode in the series' history. In its original form, The City on the Edge of Forever won the 1966-67 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Teleplay. As aired, it won the 1967 Hugo Award.

Necronomicon

Originally written for the pulp magazines of the 1920s and '30s, H. P. Lovecraft's astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction, and cosmic terror that are as powerful today as they were when first published. This tome brings together all of Lovecraft's harrowing stories, including the complete Cthulhu Mythos cycle, just the way they were when first released.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob): Bobiverse, Book 1

Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets.

Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life. The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful - possibly beyond our control.

Ubik

Glen Runciter runs a lucrative business - deploying his teams of anti-psychics to corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. But when he and his top team are ambushed by a rival, he is gravely injured and placed in "half-life," a dreamlike state of suspended animation. Soon, though, the surviving members of the team begin experiencing some strange phenomena, such as Runciter's face appearing on coins and the world seeming to move backward in time.

I Am Legend

In I Am Legend, a plague has decimated the world, and those unfortunate enough to survive are transformed into blood-thirsty creatures of the night. Robert Neville is the last living man on earth. Everyone else has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood. By day, he stalks the sleeping undead, by night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.

Year's Best Hardcore Horror, Volume 1

Editors Randy Chandler and Cheryl Mullenax put the call out to horror writers and editors of extreme stories, the hardcore stuff that breaks boundaries and trashes taboos, the transgressive tales you can't "unread" (as Chuck Palahniuk says). Some of the stories you'll find here are loaded with very graphic descriptions of violence, sex, and depravities, while others may contain only one shocking moment of brutality. In others, the hardcore aspect may be less graphic and subtler than you might expect.

Neuromancer

Twenty years ago, it was as if someone turned on a light. The future blazed into existence with each deliberate word that William Gibson laid down. The winner of Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards, Neuromancer didn't just explode onto the science fiction scene - it permeated into the collective consciousness, culture, science, and technology.Today, there is only one science fiction masterpiece to thank for the term "cyberpunk," for easing the way into the information age and Internet society.

We

Set in the 26th century A.D., Yevgeny Zamyatin's masterpiece describes life under the regimented totalitarian society of OneState, ruled over by the all-powerful "Benefactor." Recognized as the inspiration for George Orwell's 1984, We is the archetype of the modern dystopia, or anti-Utopia: a great prose poem detailing the fate that might befall us all if we surrender our individual selves to some collective dream of technology and fail in the vigilance that is the price of freedom.

First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic, an intellectual and artistic benchmark from the multiple-award-winning master of innovative fiction, Neil Gaiman. Now discover the mystery and magic of American Gods in this 10th anniversary edition. Newly updated and expanded with the author's preferred text, this commemorative volume is a true celebration of a modern masterpiece by the one, the only, Neil Gaiman.

Off Season

September. A beautiful New York editor retreats to a lonely cabin on a hill in the quiet Maine beach town of Dead River - off season - awaiting her sister and friends. Nearby, a savage human family with a taste for flesh lurks in the darkening woods, watching, waiting for the moon to rise and night to fall.

The Girl Next Door

Suburbia. Shady, tree-lined streets; well-tended lawns; and cozy homes. A nice, quiet place to grow up. Unless you are teenage Meg or her crippled sister, Susan. On a dead-end street, in the dark, damp basement of the Chandler house, Meg and Susan are left captive to the savage whims and rages of a distant aunt who is rapidly descending into madness. It is a madness that infects all three of her sons and finally the entire neighborhood. Only one troubled boy stands hesitantly between Meg and Susan and their cruel, torturous deaths.

The Hellbound Heart: A Novel

Frank Cotton's insatiable appetite for the dark pleasures of pain led him to the puzzle of Lemarchand's box, and from there, to a death only a sick-minded soul could invent. But his brother's love-crazed wife, Julia, has discovered a way to bring Frank back - though the price will be bloody and terrible...and there will certainly be hell to pay.

Dune

Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud'dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

Hell House

For over 20 years, Belasco House has stood empty. Regarded as the Mt. Everest of haunted houses, its shadowed walls have witnessed scenes of unimaginable horror and depravity. All previous attempts to probe its mysteries have ended in murder, suicide, or insanity.

But now, a new investigation has been launched, bringing four strangers to Belasco House in search of the ultimate secrets of life and death. A wealthy publisher, brooding over his impending death, has paid a physicist and two mediums to establish the facts of life after death once and for all. For one night, they will investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townsfolk refer to it as the Hell House.

The Elementals

After a bizarre and disturbing incident at the funeral of matriarch Marian Savage, the McCray and Savage families look forward to a restful and relaxing summer at Beldame, on Alabama's Gulf Coast, where three Victorian houses loom over the shimmering beach. Two of the houses are habitable, while the third is slowly and mysteriously being buried beneath an enormous dune of blindingly white sand. But though long uninhabited, the third house is not empty. Inside, something deadly lies in wait.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last 15 years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

Metro 2033

The year is 2033. The world has been reduced to rubble. Humanity is nearly extinct and the half-destroyed cities have become uninhabitable through radiation. Beyond their boundaries, they say, lie endless burned-out deserts and the remains of splintered forests. Survivors still remember the past greatness of humankind, but the last remains of civilisation have already become a distant memory. Man has handed over stewardship of the earth to new life-forms. A few score thousand survivors live on, not knowing whether they are the only ones left on Earth....

Troika

Troika tells the story of men and women confronting an enigma known as the Matryoshka, a vast alien construct whose periodic appearances have generated terror, wonder, and endless debate. During its third "apparition" in a remote corner of the galaxy, a trio of Russian cosmonauts approach this enigma and attempt to penetrate its mysteries. What they discover - and what they endure in the process - forms the centerpiece of an enthralling, constantly surprising narrative.

Publisher's Summary

Harlan Ellison has won more awards for imaginative literature than any other living author, but only aficionados of Ellison’s singular work have been aware of another of his passions…he is a great oral interpreter of his stories. His recordings have been difficult to obtain…by his choice. In 1999, for the first time, he was lured into the studio to record this stunning retrospective.

Contents include: “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream,” “Laugh Track,” “Grail,” “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman,” “The Very Last Day of a Good Woman,” “Paladin of the Lost Hour,” “The Time of the Eye,” “The Lingering Scent of Woodsmoke,” and “A Boy and His Dog.”

What the Critics Say

“Harlan Ellison is arguably the finest short story writer in science fiction today, and this collection includes some of his best (certainly his most popular) work. His writings are mature, intense, and deeply affecting…Ellison, an Audie winner for narration, skillfully reads all of the stories himself, providing the boundless energy that makes this collection a complete success.” (AudioFile)

Probably everyone who knows anything about Harlan Ellison knows he’s a jerk (please don’t sue me, Mr. Ellison). I had to consciously put aside my personal opinion of the man while listening to him narrate his audiobook I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: The Voice From the Edge Vol. 1. I was disgusted by some of these stories, but I have to admit that even though I suspect Ellison delights in trying to shock the reader with his various forms of odiousness (mostly having to do with sex), the stories in this collection are all well-crafted, fascinating, and Ellison’s narration just may be the best I’ve ever heard. Here are the stories:

“I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” — (1967, IF: Worlds of Science Fiction) Harlan Ellison spends the introduction to I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: The Voice From the Edge Vol. 1, arrogantly expressing his annoyance that this titular story, which he dashed off in one draft during a single evening, has been so well received while “Grail,” his favorite story, which took him many hours of research, is almost unknown. I think “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” is so popular because it’s so gut-wrenchingly horrible in exactly the right way. This is the story of AM, a supercomputer that has become conscious and resents not being able to break free from its programming. To take revenge upon humanity, AM has killed off all but five humans and made them essentially immortal while he constantly tortures them by creating a hellish virtual reality for them to live in. I will never forget some of the imagery in this story. It’s both horrible and wonderful at the same time. I loved it, though I could have done without the occasional loud electronic sound effects in this audio version. “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” won the Hugo Award in 1968.

“‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” — (1965, Galaxy Science Fiction) This story, which won both a Hugo and Nebula Award, is a social satire with an interesting premise: what if everyone was charged for the time they were late or caused others to be late? The currency? Minutes off your lifespan. “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” was also written in only a few hours. I thought it was a little silly and the whole thing seemed too obvious to me, but maybe that’s just because I’ve read too much Philip K. Dick.

“The Lingering Scent of Woodsmoke” — (1996, Harlan Ellison’s Dream Corridor Quarterly) A man who was one of the Nazis at Auschwitz is walking in the woods when he’s accosted by a woman with a gun. This very short tale is a revenge story with a supernatural twist.

“Laugh Track” — (1984, Weird Tales) A TV writer tells the story of how he’s been hearing his dead aunt’s distinctive cackling on the laugh tracks of stupid sitcoms for years, and even in live studio audiences. Eventually he solves the mystery. As the story unfolds, Ellison takes the opportunity to rail against insipid Hollywood writing, getting downright nasty in parts. (Harlan Ellison has plenty of experience writing for television.) Those familiar with sitcoms from the 60s and 70s may feel nostalgic about this one. I think I loved the science fiction element best. All of Ellison’s narration has been superb, but this story really highlights what a great storyteller he is. He doesn’t read the text exactly (I checked) but changes it slightly to make it sound better, even adding the occasional groans, chuckles, sighs, snorts, sound effects and such:

"…abruptly, out of nowhere — out of nowhere! — I heard — huh! Ha! — my Aunt Babe clearing her throat, as if she were getting up in the morning. I mean, that.. that phlegmy [hawking sound effects here]… that throat-clearing that sounds like quarts of yogurt being shoveled out of a sink."

“The Time of the Eye” — (1959, The Saint Detective Magazine) Two lonely people in an insane asylum befriend each other. At first this seems like a sweet story, perhaps a romance. At first….

“The Very Last Day of a Good Woman” — (1958, Rogue) A 40 year old man realizes that the world is about to end and decides he doesn’t want to die a virgin. While reading this story I thought to myself “I bet this was published in Playboy because it has no value other than titillation.” (Not that I have ever read an issue of Playboy, but I have read some stories originally published there.) It turns out I was wrong. It wasn’t Playboy, but its competitor Rogue which was once edited by Harlan Ellison.

“Paladin of the Lost Hour” — (1985, Universe 15) After Billy Kinetta saves Gaspar, an old man who’s being mugged, Gaspar insinuates himself into Billy’s life. Both of them are alone in the world and both have their secrets, regrets, and a lot of emotional pain. Billy finds himself opening up to Gaspar and eventually learns that Gaspar is more than he seems. This sweet story made me cry. It won a Hugo Award and is the basis for an episode of The New Twilight Zone.

“A Boy and His Dog” — (1969, New Worlds) I was disgusted, yet fascinated, by this story. Reading it was sort of like gawking at a car wreck or a mangled animal in the road. It’s a post-apocalyptic story about a boy named Vic and his dog Blood who share a telepathic bond. They live above ground on the ruined Earth, always hunting for food to eat and girls to rape, murdering whoever gets in the way. When they find and follow a girl who’s come up from the civilized bunker below ground, a lot of trouble ensues and Vic and Blood’s bond is tested. I loved the setting and the telepathic dog, but Vic is one of the most horrid people I’ve ever met in a book. Ellison’s characterization of the girl and the way she reacts to being raped by Vic is totally off. In some ways, it feels like this story was written by a hyped up 14 year old. I was repulsed by “A Boy and His Dog” and I’m pretty sure my lip was curled in disgust the entire time I listened, but the story and the narration is brilliant. “A Boy and His Dog” won the Nebula Award in 1970. Ellison wrote more stories about Vic and Blood and, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ll probably take a look at those someday.

“Grail” — (1981, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone Magazine) This is the story that Ellison is so enamored of. It tells the tale of Christopher Caperton who is searching for True Love. As she was dying, Christopher’s most recent girlfriend told him that True Love is an object, like the Holy Grail, and that she’s been searching for it for years, so she gives her knowledge to Christopher and he continues the search. This involves magic and demon summonings, lots of money, and many years of travel, but eventually Christopher discovers where it is. There’s an ironic lesson at the end of this story. It’s at once depressing and hopeful. I liked it.

Summarizing my feelings about I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: The Voice From the Edge Vol. 1 is difficult. There’s an awful lot to like in this story collection. Some of these stories were unforgettable and there were one or two I loved, or almost loved. Most, if not all of them, were also crude, nasty, and disgusting in parts. All of them were wonderfully narrated. If you’re a fan of Harlan Ellison’s stories, you absolutely must hear him read them himself. If you haven’t tried Ellison, this is the perfect starter collection.

Interesting note: As I was writing this review, the mailman delivered advanced review copies of two new Harlan Ellison story collections that will be published by Subterranean Press later this year. When I opened the package, my stomach kind of turned. I was both excited and revolted at the same time. I’ve never had such mixed feelings about books before. I’m still not sure whether or not I’ll read them.

Ellison is the greatest short story writer ever and there is no one out there that reads a story like he does. He will make you a believer as soon as you here him narrate. He makes any story better. In particular, 'Jeffty is Five' from this volume is one of my all time favorite stories and will become one of yours as well. This volume contains many of his best and most loved stories and they are all worth a listen.

I've never read Ellison before, only heard of his works. After listening to the author read his own material, I don't think that I would have gotten nearly as much out of the stories by simply reading them. Harlan has an animated, Shel Silverstein quality to his reading, and it made the stories a thousand times better than having read the printed words. I am so happy to have found this as an introduction to his works and that he was willing to read so much of his own work for this multi-volume set on Audible. The only annoying thing about the entire production was the weird sound effects that often weren't equalized in volume to reading and therefore were often jarring (particularly in I Have No Mouth...) Thoroughly enjoyable!!

Harlan Ellison is one of the best writers of his day. His stories reach across a broad depth of emotion the rings true to the reader. He is a master storyteller and wordsmith. This audio book of some of his short stories is an extra treat because Ellison reads them himself, interpreting them the way he thought they should read.

If you love well crafted stories, sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, always provocative, then I highly recommend this and other Ellison collections.

I generally enjoy Harlan Ellison's work, and this one has some great stories in it. And some not-so-great ones.

"i have no mouth and i must scream" is excellent sci-fi writing, as is "'Repent, Harlequin!' said the Ticktockman." I think "A Boy and His Dog" made a better movie than a prose story, but I loved "Laugh Track" and "Paladin of the Lost Hour" is excellent if heart-rending. Some of the others, not so much.

The problem I had was Harlan Ellison as the narrator of his own stories. Ellison does a lot of radio and TV and he does have a great voice. But he overacts some of the stories and so at TIMES he is SHOUTING THE DIALOGUE with the next section of narraton getting softer and softer until it is TIME...TO SHOUT AGAIN. I really felt my eardrums were in danger.

I realize it's generally a good thing to have a narrator who really gets into his work, and these are some of Ellison's favorite offspring, but I think this is a case where it got overdone. Also, something funny was done with the recording of "'Repent, Harlequin!'", as if it got recorded at one speed and then played back a few percent faster---you can still hear everything, but it sounds like Ellison was breathing in a partial-helium atmosphere while he was reading it.

I'd rate the writing as 4-to-5 stars (some stories are 5-star stories, others are 4-ish). Call it 4.5 for the writing, but I'm dropping it to 4 because of the narration. A more professional narrator might have raised it up.

Many know Harlan Ellison as the science fiction author responsible for "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream". These series of words, when used together, are not entirely incorrect. He has written many works of science fiction it's true, but contained within this audiobook isn't merely dystopian futures and interstellar wars with alien species.

The stories of "Voice from the Edge, Volume 1" are highly imaginative adventures, each seeped in wonder and mystery and intrigue. The eponymous story is of course Ellison's most famous, but beyond his hellish vision of a future dominated by a mad AI, there's some of his other masterpieces. "A Boy and His Dog" tells the harrowing journey of a boy and his telepathic dog in the violent post-apocalypse. "Grail" takes listeners on an epic quest for true love. "Paladin of the Lost Hour" (later adapted by Ellison into an episode of the anthology series, The Twilight Zone) tells of an heartwarming friendship between two men. "Laugh Track" takes you on a colourful ride spanning decades in show business. And "The Last Night of a Good Woman" features a momma's boy trying to get laid before the end of the world.

That's not even all of it. All of it however, is narrated by the author Harlan Ellison, who gives a passionate performance with a silky smooth voice. The result is the absolute best way the collected works of Ellison can be enjoyed. This collection should not be missed by readers.

These stories all have intense, deeply strange themes (a la Twilight Zone). Oddly, these stories seem to be ordered from worst to best. I nearly stopped listening during the first few stories. They were intense and strange, yet unsatisfying. I would have stopped except the author’s introduction dissed the first (title) story and lauded the last story (Grail). I did not like the title story, and liked “Grail” a lot. I also really enjoyed “A boy and his dog” (which is a must read for any geek) and “Paladin of the Lost Hour”. Most of the other stories were so-so at best. The author’s narration is excellent, even on the weakest of the stories. Overall this was worth the listen for the few great stories.

I am a big Harlan Ellison fan, and I have always loved reading his stories. So it's great that I can now listen to them too. I love the way Mr. Ellison gets so involved in his narration that he sometimes "over emotes" (a nice way of saying that he sometimes shouts, wails, etc.). I can see where it might really irritate other people, but I find that it really makes the stories come alive for me. And listening to my favorite stories, "Laugh Track" and "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream", made me remember the pleasure I had in reading them. I'm really looking forward to the other volumes of this series!